Lid-holder



(No Model.)

J. HILT.

LID HOLDER. No. 602,753. Patented Apr. 19,1898.

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Witwe/oom NITED STATES PATENT JOSEPH HILT, OF MAROA, ILLINOIS.

LID-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 602,7 53, dated April 19, 1898.

Application led July 22, 1897. Serial No. 645,569. (No model.)

To all wwnt t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH HILT, residing at Marea, in the county of Macon and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Lid-Holder, of which the following is a specication.

My invention relates generally to lid-holders, and more particularly to an improvement for regulating the elevation of the lid of a cigar-box or any other kind of box.

The object of my invention is to provide a lid-holder for ci gar-boxes which is adjustable, so as to hold the lid at varying angles, and which will be convenient for use in show-cases to display the label and name of the cigars on the inner side of the lid.

A further object of my invention is to provide an adjustable lid-holder which may be easily and cheaply constructed, which may be relied upon in its action, and which may be applied to hold the lid of any kind of a box at any angle desired.

With these various objects in View my invention consists in the peculiar construction of the various parts and in their novel combination or arrangement, all of which will be fully described indetail, and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings forming a partof this specification, Figure l is a perspective View of my invention attached to a cigar-box. Fig. 2 is a view in end elevation with the lid closed. Fig. 3 is a detail view showing a modified form of my device. Fig. 4 is a detail view showing the attachment of the holder to the top of the lid.

Like letters of reference mark the same parts wherever they occur in the various gures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings by letters, A is the hinged lid of a box B, which box is shown as a cigar-box, and while my invention may be applied to any kind of box with a hinged lid it is especially designed for and will be described as applied to a cigar-box.

My improved lid-holder consists of a piece of spring-wire, of brass, steel, or any other twisted to form the stem C, which is to be secured to the top of the lid A in any manner which may be preferred, the fastening being shown in this instance as consisting of two small staples D, the object being to hold it securely, but at the same time permit of a slight rotary movement of the stem.

At the point E, where the twisting of the two parts of the wire around each other ceases, the holder is bent at right angles, the arms F G of the wire being arranged in a plane parallel with the end H of the box and lying against it at a short distance apart, being normally pressed outward or away from each other by their own elasticity or resiliency. A staple I is driven in the end H, inclosing these two arms F and G, and the arm G is bentiinto a wavy or undulatory form, the inward bends J forming the equivalent of y notches to engage the upper side of the staple I.

The lid may be placed at any desired angle to the box, and while the inclined position of the sides of the notches J and the resiliency of the arm G will permit the arms F and G to be pulled or pushed throughthe staple by moving the lid the resistance offered to such movement is sufficient to hold the lid in any position in which it may be placed, dependent upon the number of notches J, one of said notches always engaging the upper part of staple H.

The form of the bends of the arm G may be varied at will, a modified form being shown in Fig. 3, in which they are substantially in the form of ratchet-teeth. For thepurpose of holding a veryheavy lid at a backward inclination this form would be very efficient; but for general purposes the form shown in Figs. l and 2 would be preferable, for the reason that with the form illustrated in Fig.

3 it is necessary to squeeze the arms F and G together to adjust the lid farther backward.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a simple, neat, cheap, durable, and effective holder by means of which the dealer may make a very handsome display of cigars in a window or show-case, it being possible to place the boxes close together and still display the contents of each box, as well as the handsome labels usually placed on the inside of the lid. The holder, while very effective in use, is of such a construction that it may be placed on the box by the manufac- IOO turer and sold or given away with the box, or it may be sold to the dealer to be placed by him on any and all boxes to be exhibited.

When a box to which my holder is applied is closed, the holder assumes the position shown in Fig. 2, where it will not in any Way interfere with the handling` of the goods, but will be ready for instant use as soon as the box is opened.

While Ihave illustrated and described what I believe to be the best means for carrying out my invention, I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the exact construction and arrangement shown and described7 but hold that such slight changes and Variations as might suggest themselves to the ordinary mechanic would properly fall within the limit and scope of my invention.

I-Iaving thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A lid-holder for boxes, consisting of a pair of elastic arms normally held apart, and a stem, bent at right angles to the plane in which the arms lie, the arms being adapted to lie against the end of the box and the stem on the lid thereof, substantially as described.

2. A lid-holder, consisting of a piece of elastic wire bent at about its mid-length and twisted to form a stem for attachment to the top of the box-lid, and bent at right angles at the inner end of the twisted stem to form two arms to lie against the end of the box and by their elasticity engage a stop thereon, substantially as described'.

. 3. A lid-holder, consisting of a piece of elastic wire bent at about its mid-length and twisted to form a stern for attachment to the top of the box-lid, and bent at right angles at the inner end of the twisted 'steml to form two arms to lie against the end of the box, one of said arms being bent into undulatory form to engage a stop on the end of the box, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a box andahinge lid thereon, the end of the box being provided with a staple, of a lid-holder attached to the top of the lid and formed into two elastic arms which lie against the end of the box and pass through said staple, said arms being normally pressed away from each other, thereby, by their contact with the staple, holding the lid open at any desired angle to the box, substantially as described.

5. The combination of a box,'a hinged lid thereon, and a staple in one end of the box, of a lid-holder, consisting of, a stem, lying upon and attached to the top of the lid, and two elastic arms bent at right angles to the stem, t0 lie upon the end of the box and pass through the staple, one of said arms being t bent to form undulations to engage one leg of the staple and held in engagement therewith by the normal, outward pressure of the arms, substantially as set forth.

JOSEPH HILT.

Vitnesses:

S. A. FRIEnMAN, J. CRocKER. 

